The inventor of the iconic AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has died at the age of 94. His ingenuity earned him widespread admiration, but his legacy became more controversial when his weapons were used in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts.

“Mikhail Kalashnikov’s entire life is a shining example of dedication to serving your country,” said a statement from Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

“For many generations of Russians his name became a symbol of the glory and reliability of our weapons, and a source of national pride.”

Kalashnikov who continued working well into his nineties, had been suffering from heart and intestinal problems, and on November 17 was admitted into intensive care in Izhevsk in central Russia – where the plant that produces the eponymous rifles is located. The official cause of death will be revealed following a mandatory autopsy.

A public funeral will be organized by the regional administration, in consultation with surviving relatives, though no date has been named so far.

Patriot, genius, villain?

For most of his life, Kalashnikov, who was famous for his frugal lifestyle, was feted as a straightforward hero.

The self-taught peasant turned tank mechanic who never finished high school, but achieved a remarkable and lasting feat of engineering while still in his twenties.

But as the rifles, inextricably linked forever to their creator by name, were more and more commonly seen in the hands of terrorists, radicals and child soldiers, the inventor was often forced to defend himself to journalists.

He was forever asked if he regretted engineering the weapon that probably killed more than any other in the last fifty years.

“I invented it for the protection of the Motherland. I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it,” he told them.

On a few occasions, when in a more reflective mood, the usually forceful Kalashnikov wondered what might have been.

“I’m proud of my invention, but I’m sad that it is used by terrorists,” he said once.

“I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work – for example a lawnmower.”

Indeed, at his museum in Izhevsk, where he spent most of his life working at the factory that was eventually named after him, there is an ingenious mechanical lawnmower Kalashnikov invented to more easily take care of the lawn at his country house.

It’s not what he will be remembered for.

Considering his age and circumstances, it was hardly surprising that Kalashnikov felt he could best serve his country by creating weapons.

Born in 1919, Mikhail was the seventeenth child of well-off peasants. When he was eleven, during Joseph Stalin’s collectivization campaign his parents had their land confiscated, and the whole family was exiled to Siberia (a fact rarely mentioned in fawning Soviet-era biographies).

As the country began to mobilize ahead of a war that seemed inevitable, but was as yet undeclared, Kalashnikov chose to go into a tank brigade.

His aptitude for engineering was immediately apparent.

He was allowed to create several modifications – a tank shot counter, a running time meter – that were to be adopted for the whole Red Army, and made him famous. He was destined to go on an engineering course, when Operation Barbarossa intervened.

Kalashnikov’s own career as a tank commander was cut short in the first few months of the conflict on the Eastern Front, when an explosive shell ripped open his shoulder.

Kalashnikov says the germ of the idea came to him as he recuperated in hospital.

But the invention of the AK-47 was not a Eureka moment, but a trial-and-error process of modifications and improvements undertaken by a team over six years.

While for propaganda purposes Kalashnikov’s invention was presented as a radically new development, it was based on several principles that had already been seen in British, Russian and Italian weapons to which the inventor had easy access as he drew up his blueprints.

Its main precursor was the German StG 44, the first truly effective automatic weapon of World War II.

But at the same time, Kalashnikov’s masterstroke was to combine the mechanisms of previous weapons to create something with a completely new function.

AK-47 is not a weapon designed for accuracy tests at the firing range. It is a weapon for firefights at close quarters, in harsh Russian conditions.

It can be assembled by a person with no military training, is fired by simply pointing at a target, and it can be easily looked after without a cleaning kit. It does not jam by itself (due to the generous allowances between moving parts, which also explain its mediocre accuracy at range) and it does not stop functioning in any weather conditions.

The AK-47 fulfilled its design brief to perfection, even though there is no way Kalashnikov could have known who it would be used by in the end. More than 60 years after its invention, it remains the world’s most ubiquitous weapon.

Kalashnikov to be buried in Izhevsk, central Russia, were AK-47 plant is located

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved legislation that would resume some $1.6 billion in annual U.S. aid to Egypt. The bill, which overwhelmingly passed the committee, linked U.S. aid to Egyptian cooperation with Washington.

This legislation reaffirms the enduring U.S. commitment to our partnership with the Egyptian government by authorizing continued assistance and endorsing the importance of ongoing cooperation,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Robert Menendez said.

The vote on Dec. 18 was seen as a rollback of the U.S. suspension of delivery of major combat platforms to Egypt four months earlier. In October, the administration of President Barack Obama said Egypt was being denied the F-16 multi-role fighter, AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, M1A1 main battle tank and the Harpoon anti-ship missile. In fiscal 2013, the administration withheld $560 million of the annual $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Cairo.

The legislation, titled Egypt Assistance Reform Act of 2013, provided President Barack Obama with a waiver that could resume arms deliveries to Egypt.

The Senate committee, members of which long called for a cutoff in aid, linked U.S. assistance to use of Egypt’s Suez Canal and air space as well as the peace treaty with Israel.

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Edward Snowden is offering Germany his help with investigating NSA spying activities on its soil, if Berlin grants him political asylum, Stern reports, citing correspondence with the whistleblower.

“I have a great respect for Germany,” Snowden wrote to the German Stern publication. The former NSA contractor also wrote that he would be willing to help German officials investigate alleged NSA spying in Germany, if he is granted asylum.

Not fearing possible prosecution and extradition to the US, the whistleblower noted that no one in the German government seriously believes that the US will “implement sanctions against Germany in response to criticism of illegal surveillance” because it will cause “greater harm to the US rather than Germany.”

Snowden doubts the ability of US Congress to implement any reforms, following a report by an expert panel tasked with reviewing NSA global surveillance activities released by the White House earlier this week. The Secret Service Committee, Snowden wrote, is praising the intelligence services rather than keeping them in check.

Last week Snowden sent a similar open letter to Brazil, offering his help with “investigations into suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens” but noting that the US government will continue to limit his “ability to speak out until a country grants me permanent political asylum.”

Snowden again reiterated the message on Sunday in an email exchange with the Brazilian Globo TV channel, saying that he would like to move to Brazil if he was permitted by its government. The Brazilian foreign ministry said that it can only consider such a request for asylum once it receives an official application.

He accused the US presidential panel tasked with reviewing US’s surveillance practices of recommending “cosmetic changes.”
“Their job wasn’t to protect privacy or deter abuses, it was to ‘restore public confidence’ in these spying activities. Many of the recommendations they made are cosmetic changes,” Snowden said, as quoted by Wall Street Journal.

Snowden also managed to thank Russia for the asylum opportunity and for the ability to freely speak his mind.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to live in freedom and participate in major global debates through the year asylum granted by Russia,” Snowden said in an interview.
“I have a lot of time for reading, I have been closely following the developments in the world,” said Snowden, responding to a question about how he passes his time in Russia.

Back in November Snowden handed over another letter addressed “to whom it may concern” in German political circles, indicating that he was willing to go to Germany and testify over the US wiretapping of Angela Merkel’s phone on condition of granting him political asylum.

In that one-page typed letter, the whistleblower also expressed hope that “with the support of the international community, the government of the United States will abandon this harmful behaviour [of treating dissent as defection].”

Without commenting directly on the open petition, the US State Department responded by saying, that Snowden remains a wanted man who “is accused of leaking classified information, faces felony charges here in the United States and … should be returned as soon as possible.”

Following Snowden’s November appeal, more than 50 German public figures asked Berlin to grant Snowden asylum, according to Der Spiegel. For instance, the former general secretary of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Heiner Geissler, wrote that Snowden has done the western world a “great service.”

The German government however refused to consider the request, with Steffen Seibert, official spokesman of the cabinet, saying that the issue is tied to Germany’s security and mutual interests with the US. “For us Germans, the transatlantic alliance remains of paramount importance,” he said.

In the meantime, Snowden continues to look for a safe harbor, following the offer for a temporary asylum in Russia in August. Before accepting a temporary asylum in Russia on conditions that he would not engage in whistleblowing activities on Russian soil, the whistleblower sought permanent political asylum in over 20 countries, including Germany and Brazil.

The two states embarked on a UN quest to curb the NSA’s worldwide spying activity, and introduced a UN resolution against supernormal surveillance of communications, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly unanimously.

During this week’s press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again reiterated that Russian intelligence has never sought to extract any intelligence from Snowden, who in his turn is abiding by the terms of not engaging “in anti-American propaganda.”

“Operationally, we are not working with him and never have done, and are not asking him any questions about how his agency worked on Russia,” said Putin. “I won’t hide it, this person is not without interest for me. I think that thanks to Snowden, a lot changed in the minds of millions of people, including in the minds of major political leaders.”

TEL AVIV — Israel’s intelligence community has determined that Turkey became the lead financier of Hamas.

Israeli sources said Turkey replaced Iran as the leading financial backer of Hamas since 2012.

The sources said the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has overseen the transfer of up to $250 million a year to Hamas, particularly the Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip.

“The money is channeled mostly through private sources, but with full coordination with Erdogan and his aides,” a source said.

The sources said Turkey has coordinated the cash transfers with another ally of Hamas. They said Erdogan was working with Qatar, which has been hosting the Hamas leadership since its expulsion from Syria in late 2011.

Turkey has been deemed the only NATO member to recognize Hamas. The sources said Ankara has hosted a Hamas presence, led by Salah Al Arouri, that facilitates operations and cash transfers, mostly to the West Bank.

In 2012, Qatar pledged $400 million to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. But the sources said most of the money failed to arrive because of Doha’s crisis with the new military-backed regime in Cairo.

The sources said Israel has urged NATO members, particularly the United States, to stop Turkish funding of Hamas. They said the Turkish support was also undermining the Palestinian Authority, which directly controls about half of the West Bank.

Turkey was also said to have provided training to Hamas security forces. They said the Turkish training, provided by non-government elements aligned with Erdogan, was touted as efforts to enhance order in the Gaza Strip.

After the safe relocation of Americans from Bor, South Sudan, to the nation’s capital of Juba on Sunday, President Barack Obama said he may “take further action” to keep Americans safe in the midst of escalating violence and fears of possible civil war in the newly formed African country.

Three hundred and eighty U.S. officials and citizens have already been transported out of South Sudan in addition to 300 residents of other countries, Jen Psaki, the U.S. State Department‘s spokesperson, said in a statement.

Obama said in a letter that 46 U.S. military personnel were sent to Bor on Saturday in the evacuation effort.

“As I monitor the situation in South Sudan, I may take further action to support the security of U.S. citizens, personnel, and property, including our Embassy, in South Sudan,” Obama said.

“The U.S. government is doing everything possible to ensure the safety and security of United States citizens in South Sudan. … For their safety and security, we will not outline specific evacuation plans,” the statement said.

On Saturday, four U.S. service members were wounded when unidentified forces attacked three U.S. aircraft attempting to evacuate Americans from Bor. The involved aircraft and personnel aborted the mission and left the country, Obama said.

While the United Nations sends more peacekeeping soldiers into the violence-stricken country, all civilian officials who are involved with the U.N. Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) have been relocated to Jor, according to the U.N.

“We are not abandoning South Sudan. We are here to stay, and will carry on in our collective resolve to work with and for the people of South Sudan,” Special Representative for South Sudan and head of UNMISS Hilde Johnson said in a statement.

The decision came after a UNMISS camp was attacked by about 2,000 armed militants, leaving two Indian peacekeepers and “a number” of South Sudanese civilians dead, according to the U.N.

Violent clashes have escalated in the world’s newest country throughout the week, following what South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir’s government said was a coup attempted by rebels fighting for the former vice president who was dismissed in July.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for the violence to stop immediately and for the disparate parties to “resolve their personal differences through dialogue immediately.”

Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma , Mohamed Adel , and Alaa Abdel Fattah are not Political activists or symbols of the protest movement that ignited the revolt in 2011.

They just traitors and mercenaries been trained by agents of intelligence services in Serbia and other to drop the Egyptian state

Their sentences ( today- sunday ) include prison labor and fines of 50,000 Egyptian pounds each, only for violating a law that requires police permission for demonstrations.( general law )

The trial (soon ) for allegedly collaborating with countries , allegedly finance from foreign organizations , conspiracy .. the execution waiting all of them, and all the traitors .

Ahmed Doma admits on air that he attacked police officers and kidnapped some of them and beat them up during the events of January 25th , saying that there is no such a peaceful revolution as mentioned by some media outlets.. He also admit that he burned the Scientific Research Institute (Which has an unprecedented human heritage) by throwing Molotov bottles on it..

On the other hand I would like to ask the members of the U.S. Congress about the procedures followed in case that someone attempt to storm the building of the Ministry of Defense or the U.S. intelligence building or the White House..??

Well, this’s exactly what Mohamed Adel , member of the April 6 Movement .. he got caught by cameras while he break into the state security building with another person and steal files and CDs with highly confidential information affecting Egypt’s national security.., then he sell these information to a private U.S. company operating in the field of publishing, has a close relationship with the C.I.A .

Mohamed Adel , Foreign funding

This is Alaa Abdel Fattah calls for cutting the hand of the army, the police and the Egyptian judiciary ( the three pillars of the state ).

Ahmed Maher a founder of the April 6 movement,. was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011?? Nobel Prize for Betrayal !!!!